The picture above was taken in a fairly typical area of “bush” in Western Angola . There is a small military camp between this area and a nearby village. Fallen wood among the bush has not been gathered but very few people live in the area so this might not be significant. Although the indicators are almost impossible to see, the picture was taken at the edge of a mined area and some clues are present.

Suggested message(s):

The more you know about an area, the easier it is to decide whether it is dangerous.

People should always try to keep to paths when in unknown areas.

If you must move in unknown areas, you should look around for signs of danger all the time even when on a path or road.

Sheet 36 Angola bush
(Page 2)

On the left of the picture you can see the top of a PROM-1 bounding fragmentation mine and its fuze. It is in the shadowy area at the top of the picture.

On the right of the picture overleaf you can see the wooden lid of a PMD-6 blast mine just visible among the grass.

The details on left and right indicate:

A – From the top, the pictures shown on the left are:

Examples of the wooden and metal stakes that a tripwire may be attached to. Sometimes a convenient tree may be used instead.

A PROM-1 bounding fragmentation mine with its fuze fitted. The arming clip that is removed when the mine is placed is beside the fuze.

Below the mine is a picture of another PROM-1 found lying on its side in Angola. If the mine is not buried to half its height or held securely in another way, it can fall over.

Beneath this are examples of tripwire spools and wire. Many different spools are found in Angola . The wire may be bare, painted, or plastic coated.

B – From the top, the pictures shown on the right are:

A block of 200g TNT with the Russian lettering on its wrapping clearly visible.

The same size block of TNT with an MUV fuze and detonator fitted. This TNT block has been in the ground for several years. To the right of this is an arming pin from the fuze and two examples of the delay mechanism that drops away after the fuze is armed.

A PMD-6 blast mine. This is a wooden box 190 mm in length (about 7½”) that contains the 200g block of TNT and MUV fuze shown above it.

Beneath the mine and to the left are the parts of the arming delay that fall away after the pin is removed. These are a rubber cap, a small strip of lead that is cut in two by as the mine is armed, and the arming delay fuze extension. The hole through which the arming pin passes can be seen in the arming delay fuze extension.

A piece of wire with many MUV arming pins threaded onto it. It is common for mines to be armed after they have all been positioned. One person arms all the mines and collects the pins. The pins are counted to ensure that all the mines have been placed and armed, then the arming pins may be discarded.

Suggested message(s):

Keep to paths when in unknown areas.

Even when mines are visible, they may be very hard to see.

If you see a mine, do not think that it will be safe to walk around it. There will almost certainly be other mines that you cannot see.

If fragmentation mines are around, it is very likely that blast mines will also have been placed.

Tripwire, stakes, arming pins and clips are all reliable indicators that an area is mined and should be avoided.